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Nasir el-Rufai arrested :A synopsis of his endless travails
By Danlami
Nmodu Newsdiaryonline Sat July 2,2011
Nasir el Rufai, former minister of the federal
capital territory has been arrested. He was detained at
the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja Nigeria earlier
today as he arrived from London.The former minister had
accompanied General Muhammadu Buhari and Pastor Tunde Bakare
presidential candidate and running mate of opposition CPC
for the widely reported talks in London on Nigeria.
El -Rufai who joined the CPC before the last
general elections has been one of the leading critics of the PDP
government especially since the era of late President Umaru
Yar'Adua when the ex minister went on exile.In the ex minister's
view, nothing appears to have substantially changed for the
better with the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan as
president; that is why he opted to support the Buhari/Bakare CPC
ticket during the last polls.He even preferred this ticked to
that of his bosom friend Nuhu Ribadu's ACN.
The ex minister appears to be a cat with nine
lives. YarAdua using his agents in the senate 'ordered' that
elrufai be' indicted' and banned from holding office.Though he
proceeded on exile,he was eventually indicted. But
survived YarAdua's plot to finally nail him.However a petition
submitted to the EFCC is said to be the basis for his on
going trial for alleged abuse of office and allocation of lands
to friends and family.
Newsdiaryonline
learnt that there is in fact a concerted plot- akin to the
Yar'Adua years - to ensure el Rufai is jailed .Whether the EFCC
trials will be used to perfect this plot or another issue may be
used against him remains unclear.A presidency official who
hinted at this insisted:`he will go to jail.'This revelation was
made recently when the ex minister travailed to the United
States.In fact many thought el Rufai might have gotten wind of
this renewed plot and proceeded on exile once again.
Surprisingly he returned and has even raised
the ante with his trenchant articles in his new column
elRufai on Friday on the backpage of
Thisday which also named him as one of the members
of the paper's editorial board.Attempts by
Newsdiaryonline to reach the ex minister in recent
times failed .
His arrest today may, among other reasons, in
fact be a culmination of the authority's growing unease with the
ex minister's growing influence in spite of apparent
official attempts to muzzle him.
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